A Blade of Petals
by AnaWayne
Summary: Not wanting to be she stereotypical Omega, Sakura change herself and her dreams. Keeping it a secret and controlling her nature is hard enough; but in a team full of Alphas? That's craziness! Omega-verse; Sakura-centric. No pairing yet.
1. 01 Omega

**Chapter 01: Omega**

 _ **Sunday night**_

Sakura tossed her hair aside, sighing heavily. It was unsettling. How would she deal with it? Really? How many omegas did become kunoichi's? It was a very small number. And she wasn't expecting it. Neither was her family. Haruno Sayuri was an Alpha it made her a strong kunoichi, one that would be remember for generations as the Hell Lily of Konoha. Haruno Ren was a Beta, unlike his wife, he was a civilian. A monk. So, an Omega daughter was something that no one could have expected. And when her mother had informed it to her of this, she cried.

Unlike some villages, like Iwa and Kiri, Konoha didn't forbid Omegas from becoming shinobis. But they didn't encourage them to. There had always been some who prejudiced against them. In the shinobi world, being an Alpha made you seen as a leader, a strong and powerful shinobi. Being a Beta marked you as common, and Kami knew that there was Beta shinobi that could wipe some Alpha ass anytime of the year. But being an Omega marked you out of the game, there wasn't such a thing as a strong Omega.

Damn! How didn't she didn't see it coming? Her reflex was the slipped image of an Omega. Her body was too curvy for a 12 years old Beta or Alpha, her features too soft, her hair was pink — well, she blames her mother's gene pool for it —, her body had the early growth spurt, and her very own chakra didn't grow as a normal one. People would eventually catch up and perceive it. And people talked. Everyone in that Academy thought that Omegas didn't make strong shinobi. Even Uchiha Sasuke had pointed it out to the entire class once.

 _"And I have a crush in this idiot… What's my fucking problem?"_

Clenching her jaw, she knew she had to make a choice by tomorrow. She could either start using hormonal suppressors, or she could give up and be a good girl and get married to an Alpha.

 _"Well. Mother always said that good girls don't make history."_

Giving one last glance at her own reflection she picked a vial on her night stand and popped a pill in her mouth swallowing it. She was going to be a ninja. She knew what her classmates thought about an Omega shinobi. She knew what the teachers thought about Omega shinobi. And she knew what Sasuke thought about them. How much weaker they were.

 _"If I'm twice as weak as them, then I will try three times harder than any of them,"_ She thought as she looked at her reflection. "It's time to prove them wrong."

* * *

 _ **Friday morning**_

 _ **Two days prior**_

"As if Sasuke-kun would ever look at a forehead like you!" Ino said with a loud voice.

"As if anyone would ever look at a pig like you, Ino." Sakura said with the same tone. "Besides I'm smarter than you. And prettier." She smirked.

As always Ino and Sakura were bickering about Uchiha Sasuke over the morning. It was fun for Sakura, at least. When she was younger she was too shy to bicker, and say things like this out loud. Being created in a Shinto shrine made one too passive to the ninja life, but with Ino's help she had grown confident.

Sakura was like almost all girls in her class. Fresh, boy-obsessed, and naïve.

When the boy with raven hair entered the class room she sighed like every girl. He was dreamy and even the sight of him made her legs shake.

 _"One day I will marry him!"_ She thought with a dreamy smile while watching him.

During classes she felt her body growing weak, but dismissed any worry thinking it might just be a fever. She managed to do all tests and receive the grades and congratulations to become a gennin. Once it was over she walked to her home — a house in the shrine near one of the south forest of Konoha — she felt strange. Her body growing weaker, heavier, her legs shaking, she felt dizzy, and as if her mind was spinning, and she had a fever that hit her nape.

 _"What is happening?"_ She thought as she fell into the ground.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!" She heard a voice, Yakumo? Probably. "Sakura-chan?" He held her.

"Yakumo-chan, what is happening?" She asked weakly.

"I… I think you are having a wakening." He said while picking her up.

"But I'm a Beta, right?"

"I'm sorry Sakura-chan… But I think you're not." A needy feeling possessed her and she moaned causing him to swear.

"Hey! Monks aren't supposed to swear! Or I thought they didn't."

"I think Kami-sama can let it slip this time." He ran to a house behind the temple, in a reserved space of the shrine. "Ren-sama… Sayuri-sama! Sakura-chan is…" The door opened immediately revealing a beautiful woman with pink hair and eyes.

"Yakumo… What?" The worried eyes looked at her daughter's small form.

"She's awakening."

"Oh! Kami!"

"Where can I put her?" He asked and Sayuri shook her head, picking Sakura from his arms.

"You can go home, Yakumo." Before the young man could protest she spoke again. "Thank you for your self-control." The boy nodded and left hurriedly.

* * *

Hours passed and everything Sakura felt warm and fuzzy and something gluing in her body, making her weak and needy. She was really confused. Her rational side, knew exactly what was happening, she was awakening as an Omega, which meant that everything she wanted was her primal instinct. Her irrational side, the emotional one, was sad and longing for company, Sasuke's company… Closing her eyes she tried to focus on everything chakra related that she had already read at least once in her lifetime.

When the night time sky came she was exhausted. After about four hours she could feel her body aching. She wasn't in her room, no. She was in the waiting room of the temple. The shrine had been designed to accommodate Omegas in heat. The waiting room, was a small room with small windows protected with grids and a door, the center had a futon and herbal incenses were burning in all four corners of the room.

She tried to get back on her own two feet and make it to the door.

"Mom! Dad!"

The door opening revealing her father with a worry expression. Her face frowned and he sighed.

"Your first heat. I think we should talk."

After that, her father tried to convince her to drop the ninja life. Arguing with every fact he could, she went to sleep thinking about it. Nothing else was on her mind. But by the morning her mother came to her with three books.

 _Ωmegas: the frail anatomy_

 _Omegas: behind the frail looks_

 _The Thorns of a Flower_

Every book was about Omegas. The first explained about her body: the awakening, the heating cycles, her chakra reserves and physical strength. She noticed that every world was very judgmental, but dismissed it, focusing on the academic information. Obviously, an Alpha wrote the book.

The second book was about shinobi Omegas. It came with interviews with them. There were tips on how to delay heats, hide scents, make the chakra reserves grow and even get more physical strength. She noticed that it was written by a Beta.

The third book was not the academic type. It was an autobiography of an Omega that had been subjugated all her life. Jaya was the only omega daughter of a warrior family, once she had her first heat her parents made her marry an Alpha of another warrior family to strength the bonds between the families. Len, the Alpha in question, was abusive and controlling, and one-night Jaya had got enough and killed him. The description was very graphic. Including of the pain of the death of a mate. After that she had been expelled from both clans, being forbidden to see her own children and forced to leave everything she held dear. She became a warrior herself, stronger than anyone else could have ever predicted, till she met a monk Alpha and gave up her sword and mated him,

The three books made her think. The last one was the main one on her mind. Sakura had always assumed that Alphas didn't abuse their Omega mates, but it had been proved wrong. Surely, he didn't hurt her physically, but she knew that emotional and psychological abuse could do even worse. Jaya had explained how she had been attracted to Len when they were younger, the mindless attraction and Sakura couldn't stop, but compare with her own attraction to Sasuke. She shivered. Was it her Omega instinct acting even before the awakening? Possible! Sasuke was one of the strongest Alpha males around her age.

 _"If you had been attracted to an Alpha before the awakening don't go straight to him. You may not really love him. The Omega instinct can start kicking in years prior the awakening. But it doesn't mean that you should act like a stupid child. Be strong and resist the temptation. Analyze. See if the Alpha is worthy of you. Sometimes the irrational Omega's will only look for power, so it's your rational self that will have to seek character._

 _— Katura Jaya, The Thorns of a Flower"_

Her hands traced the words, carefully.

"Your father wants me to prohibit you from becoming a kunoichi, you know?" Her mother told her, leaning in her doorframe. Sakura frowned at this.

"Will you?"

"When I thought you were a Beta I let you become a kunoichi because you are smart enough to survive. But then I perceived that you were focusing more in a boy than on training. Now I know it is because of your Omega." Sakura eyes turned downcast.

"Those books, you gave me them in the exact order. One had been written by an Alpha, the other by a Beta and the last by an Omega. Why?"

"My father was an Omega, he gave me those. These are the general thoughts of the people. Alphas will classify you as a frail, weak being. Some will look down at you if you stay as a kunoichi. Betas will be willing to give you a shot, for them you are someone that has to work harder. Omegas… They are the only ones that will really understand you. I could have chosen any book about Omegas to you. I could have given you 'The awakening of a bloody moon' or 'Behind the glass'; they are books about strong Omegas, but they weren't written by Omegas. She's the one I want you to understand. Tell me, what do you think of her Sakura?"

"She had always been strong, just underestimated."

"Exactly. As an Omega, you will always be underestimated. But I know that despite being an Omega you can be strong. But it won't happen if you don't train if you waste your time after a boy that doesn't want you." Sakura flinched as her mother talked but still looked at the pink eyes. "I want to know: if I let you become a kunoichi, will you take it seriously? Because as a Beta you could have fooled around without any consequence, but as an Omega… It will not be easy."

Sakura's eyes never left her mother's. The clash between Green emeralds and pink sapphires lasted for minutes as Sakura thought about what her mother said. She had never thought about being an Omega. After reading Katura Jaya's like, would she be able to take it seriously?

" _'It isn't easy. Being an Omega isn't easy. But we can manage it. They will always judge and look down at you. Let them. Make it your strength. Let them underestimate your strengths and overestimate your weakness. It will be their funeral.'_ " Sakura quoted from the book. And Sayuri arched an eyebrow. "I will do it. If this book is right then Jaya gave me a good piece of her mind. I will be strong because I don't want to be viewed as a frail, weak thing."

"Good. I will buy you hormonally and heat suppressors and you can start training." Sayuri said with a victorious smirk. "Did you know my father had been the only known Omega made jounin? Don't let them put you down Sakura. Ever!"

* * *

 _ **Present day**_

The next day she showed up at the Academy with a happy expression. The discovery that she was an Omega made her realize a lot of things. One of the things is that she should stop actively pursuing Sasuke, she wouldn't have time for it, and with her being an Omega if they ever mated she knew he would make her quit being a ninja. He clearly stated what he thought about Omega shinobi once. Now she wouldn't pursue anyone. In fact, she would change her ways. It's past time now.

She sat in a place between two betas: Hyuuga Hinata and Katanabe Kito. She had spent her whole weekend reading about how to camouflage the Omega scent. The hormone suppressors would only do a part of the job, the rest she would have to work for it, using lotions and shampoos with strong scents, mixing with betas or other Omegas so her scent wouldn't stand and maybe, later, she would try to apply chakra to the pulse points, where the smell was stronger, but first she really had to increase it.

"Now the teams are…" Her eyes turned to her Iruka-sensei. Waiting for her team. Once, when she believed to be a Beta, she dreamed to be on Sasuke's team. But now… She could only hope that her team would be composed by female Alphas or only Betas. "Team seven: Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto" she cringed, without making any noise, and hoped that the next would be a Beta. "and Uchiha Sasuke. Jounin leader: Hatake Kakashi." Of course, it wouldn't.

"Hey! Sensei! Why does an amazing shinobi like me have to be stuck with a teme like Sasuke."? Naruto yelled and Sakura frowned. She knew that a team with only Alphas would never work, for nature they compete for leadership — it was a reason why there was at least a Beta in all teams —, and to put two Alphas that already bickered all the time was a very bad idea.

"Naruto, you had the worst score in all tests and Sasuke the highest, is a politic in the Academy to put the strongest Alpha with the worst Alpha to balance the team," Iruka-sensei said and Sakura sighed, it was a very bad idea.

"Sit down, dobe." Sasuke said with a smirk on his face and Sakura rolled her eyes as she saw the girls in her class droll over it and frowned again. Why wasn't she drooling like them? As an Omega shouldn't she be attracted to the strongest Alpha around? She shook her head as Iruka returned to the team announcements.

 _"Damn it!"_ She thought. " _It will be so hard to hide it now."_

During lunch, she sat on a stone bench to eat her bento alone. It was a healthy one, not the diet thing she used to eat. Her mother had explained to her the importance of a good alimentation for a shinobi, especially an Omega. That was when she saw Sasuke glaring at her and frowned, she had seen him go into the cafeteria.

"Sakura, your forehead is so big and charming that I want to kiss it." He said and she narrowed her eyes.

 _"Did I step in an alternate dimension?"_ Was the first thing that crossed her mind and then she paled _"Is my scent spilling out? But the hormone suppressors work for days…"_ The panic rise in her bile and she tried to concentrate. Panic wasn't a good answer. It made her hormone produce even more scent.

"Of course, that is something that Naruto would say." He said and she almost sighed in relief, covering it with a laugh.

"I don't know…" She started playfully. "You almost made me believe it Sasuke." She said dropping the -kun prefix. It was when the wind hit her making her smell his scent. Strong, warm and dangerous. She remembered that one day she had sat beside him, his scent was strong and warm, yes, but it was like burned eucalyptus and spicy. This was like mint and earth, it was fresh, but beneath it, there was something spicy and dangerous. This wasn't Sasuke. It was Naruto.

"Sakura what do you think of him?" Her eyebrow rose. "Naruto." She sighed heavily.

"He is an Alpha, like you. So, he is strong. He has a big chakra reserve, but zero control over it. He is all brute strength. Why?"

"I wasn't asking like a ninja…" He started to sweat and she smirked knowingly.

"On a personal level? I don't know. He has a strong personality, but I have one too, it can be a crash actually. He is a little reckless and possible stupid at times, but I think he can overcome it if he actually stops to think sometimes." She answered. "But you didn't need to henge as Sasuke to ask me this Naruto… I would have given you the same exact answer."

The henge disappeared revealing a bashful Naruto.

"Your scent gave you away." She answered.

"Eh! You are awesome Sakura-chan." Her smile took him away but then he started running away for some strange reason.

She chuckled when she perceived that he was running to the bathroom. And returned her attention to her bento. Her mind was floating away when the Uchiha. The real Uchiha came from the other side.

"Sakura, have you seen Naruto?"

"I think he is in the bathroom, why?" She asked hiding her smirk.

"Not of your business." He said rudely and she rolled her eyes.

"Rude…" She murmured before stuffing the last maki in her mouth. His eyes turned to her irritated.

"What?!"

"You heard me. _Rude!"_ She after finishing her meal. "You should try work on your diplomacy if you want to be made a chunin anytime soon." She got up and picked her things. "See you in classroom."

"You don't know anything about me, Sakura. Do not judge me."

"No, I don't." She agreed. "But it would be lovely to actually know my team." She stated with a small smile as the boy turned her back at her.

"Annoying." She heard his murmur, but smirked. Jaya was right. She should really start looking analyzing the Alphas instead of just accepting them.

After lunch she perceived the teams being called by their sensei's while her team stood there. Hours passed. In those hours she observed her team mates. Sasuke looked bored while sat on a chair and Naruto was growing impatient. She was sat crisscross on top of the teacher table and tried to meditate. In one of the books her mother had handed to her stated that meditation was one mind exercise that could develop one's chakra reserve. But it was difficult. Not the chakra part, but the concentration part. Focus her chakra was almost easy, but concentrate in the nothingness that was necessary to meditate, that was another history. Principally with Naruto shouting at every five minutes.

"He is late!" Complained the blonde.

"Naruto, you should sit down," Sakura said rolling her eyes.

"But Sakura-chan! How can our sensei be the only one that is late?! I'm ready for action! Everyone had already met their sensei and even got to live some adventures. Even Iruka-sensei is gone!" The boy rambled and she just watched as he picked an eraser and pressing it in the door frame with the door.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked.

"A little gift for being late. Surprise!" The boy said and Sakura could hear and practically feel the misfit in his voice.

"Okay!" Sakura said rolling her eyes. _"It will be fun!"_

"Our sensei is a jounin, an elite ninja! Do you really think he is going fall for that?"

 _"I'm counting on it,"_ Sakura thought.

Seconds later the door opened and the eraser fell on top of the stranger. She narrowed her eyes, her mother had told her that jounin shinobi were always aware of their surroundings, so they would never be surprised in a battle. Maybe the man dropped his guard because they were gennin? Anyway, she laughed right along with Naruto.

"See he fell for it!" Naruto all but yelled and Sakura saw the mortification on Sasuke's face.

"How should I say it?" The man said lazily. "… My first impression of you, guys is… I hate you." The tiny moment of embarrassment hit all of them before the man ordered them to go to the rooftop.

Kakashi observed his new team. They were… an odd bunch to put lightly. Naruto was an energy ball. Sasuke a loner. Sakura a scaredy cat. That was his thought of them. After he presented himself he let them speak.

"Dattebayo! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! And I like ramen, and I like it so much that Iruka-sensei takes me to eat at the Ichiraku. I hate the three minutes that I have to wait for it to finish being cooked so I can eat. My hobbies are pranks and eating different types of ramen. And my dream to the future is to become the greatest Hokage so that everyone in the Village will stop despising me and treat me with respect." The boy said in one animated lone breath.

 _"He grew up interesting."_ He thought. He pointed his chin to the only female member of the team and ordered her.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like cheesecakes, principally strawberry flavored. I don't like bullies. My hobbies are reading and help my father with the gardening. Everyone always classify me as weak… My dream for the future? Prove them all wrong!" She said crossing her arms before her chest.

 _"Ambitious dream for someone so young… And an unusual one for a girl so young too."_ His eyes locked in the Uchiha of the group. "You next."

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I dislike many things and don't like anything in particular. What I have is not a dream, is an ambition and I will turn it into a reality. I will kill a certain someone and rebuild my clan." The boy said in an indifferent voice.

 _"Like I thought."_ Kakashi mused once again. He perceived the girl's frowned face and discomfort and the tentative of hiding it. It peaked his interest. Did the boy bloodlust unsettle her? Why? "Great. Each of you has your own personalities and ideas. We will have our first mission tomorrow morning."

"What kind of mission, sensei?" Naruto asked, too excited.

"The mission that the four of us are going to partake in is a survival exercise." He saw the frowned faces of his possible to be students. "Well, it wasn't a mission, actually. More like a training." He laughed at their faces, principally after Naruto complaint.

"Naruto's question is very pertinent: what kind of training we are going to have, sensei?" Asked the girl seriously.

"Okay… But you are not going to like the answer!" The pink eyebrow rose defiantly and he sighed. "Out of the 27 students that had passed only 9 will be accepted as genin. The other 18 will be either return to the Academy or be completely excluded from the program. That's the final test of the Academy. The approbation rate is 33%." At the sight of darkened faces, he smirked. "I told that you wouldn't like."

"That's not fair! We all worked hard to be here. It wasn't a walk in the park. What was the graduation test for?"

"It was a mean to sort who had the ability and who hadn't. I decide if you will pass or not. Be in the designated place to the training at five AM and bring all your equipment. That's all, you're dismissed. That's true… It's better if you don't eat breakfast tomorrow, or you're going to throw up."

The last thing he saw before disappearing was the still defiant eyebrow of the one Haruno Sakura.

* * *

 _Hello, guys!_

 _I hope you have liked the first chapter!_

 _Kisses!_

 _10/21/2017:_

 _I would like to say that there is a lot of OC characters, including Sakura's parents... Yes I know about Kizashi and Mebuki, but I choose to write Ren and Sayuri for a reason._

 _This chapter have been beta-ed._

 _I will be unable to post chapters for till december. Sorry!_


	2. 02 Team Seven

**Chapter 02:**

 **Team Seven**

She reached the training ground five minutes after her teammates. Her mother had been sent to a mission outside the village and her father had little to no knowledge about the ninja life or its tests so he couldn't be helpful. So she had spent part of the previous day in the library, where she researched about the last test. She had only found something about it in a book chapter. It didn't state the objective of the test, but she perceived that they were all graded or failed in teams. Since she was there she made a little research on her teacher.

Hatake Kakashi, she discovered, had been trained by the previous Hokage and was the last one of his team. Alpha. He had astonishing achievements and a sizable bounty over his head. She also read something about an implanted Sharingan. It made her realize that he wasn't an idiot, not like he was so willing to be seen by them, no… He had not let he guard drop and fell into a child prank, he fell in a child prank to look like he had his guard dropped. Unfortunately, almost his entire file was classified. But it also said that he had never had trained a genin team.

"Sakura-chan, you're late!" Naruto all but screamed.

"Good morning to you too Naruto, Sasuke!" She said sarcastically to the boys that looked indignant with her antics. "Well… I don't see our teacher here, so I might just be on time." She retorted with a playful smirk. "Relax Naruto… He's probably going to be late again."

Dropping her back pack on the ground she sat under a tree shadow, crisscross, closed her eyes and tried to meditate. Tried, being the key world.

"What are you doing, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked confused.

"Trying to meditate."

"But that's so boring."

"I couldn't agree more." She replied and then sighed. "But I need it."

"Why?" Her eyebrow arched, she wasn't going to tell him that it was because her chakra reserve was laughable. No way. She saw that Sasuke was interested as well, but tried to hide it.

"Strengthening the mind. Let one less susceptible to genjutsu." She told him, it wasn't a lie. But it wasn't why she needed it. "Maybe you should find something to do while sensei is doing whatever he does to keep him so out of time." Sakura suggested and then closed her eyes.

This time she weren't interrupted. But even so she couldn't concentrate well. Her mind wandered to lots of thoughts and dispersed itself too easily. Her father was so natural at it. She spent her time between trying to meditate and seeing what her teammates were doing. Sasuke was only glaring at the nothing and Naruto was pacing around.

 _"_ _One last time, come on."_ She thought while correcting her posture and closing her eyes once again. This time trying to repeat a mantra her father had passed down at her. _"I hear nothing, but my heart. I see nothing, but the light. I speak nothing, but the true."_ She repeated it in her mind uncountable times before feeling her body relaxing and mind going numb. It was the first time she felt the energy around her, it was shocking. She tried to concentrate harder on the energy see if she could convert it in chakra, but her concentration was broken because an unnatural disruptor. A strong, red, angry energy. Her eyes opened and she tried to look to the energy source.

"Sakura-chan, are you okay?"

"Yes! I just remember something." She lied.

Then Kakashi appeared in a smoke poof.

"YOU´RE LATE!" Naruto screamed and Sakura pointed casually. "Is it a pattern?" She asked then.

"Sorry I'm late guys, a black cat crossed my path so I had to go the long way." Sakura's eyes narrowed, he was lying. Everyone knew it, but it did help him built the idiotic image he wanted. He picked a clock and placed it over a trunk. "Now it's set to noon."

"What happens at noon?" She asked not being able to contain her curiosity.

"Lunch, of course." He said happily. And then he continue on. "The test is for you to take these bells of me, you have till noon. If you can't then you'll be tied up in those trunks and I will eat my lunch in front of you." He said putting out two bells. Her eyes narrowed again. Two bells for three people? Naruto questioned it. "This means that at least one of you is going to end up tied up and send back to the Academy. You can come with everything you have! All of weapons and jutsus you know. Everything."

She watched a barbeque exchange between the jounin and Naruto till the late attacked him. Sakura pinched her nose bridge. When he gave the head start she hided in some brunches where she still have the view of her sensei and Naruto. But her mind was too occupied with another thing.

This man had always reproved his teams. _"Why?"_ She bitted her thumb and looked at the fighting. _"That's a porn book? Really? It means he isn't fighting seriously. He's teasing us, provoking us."_ She then saw as Kakashi tricked them to revealing their positions and then she start changing her hideout. _"Damn! I'm still planning. I can't be near them if I want to pick that bell."_ She start moving, to a new spot and them stop. _"That bell. It's a fucking fluke. Two bells. Three gennin. He wants us to fail? No, that's not the right question. Why he does want us to fail?"_

"Sakura…" She heard her name and then turned around and saw Sasuke all bloodily and bruised. A surprised and disgusted sound escaped her lips before she could contain herself. She felt numb, but forced herself to remain still. The boy moved and them she perceived some inconsistencies in the image, the unnatural way that the kunai moved, the excess of blood and how the boy still moved his legs with a kunai craved in his spine. It was supposed to be severed. Also with that amount of wind she was supposed to smell his scent and Sasuke wasn't able to hide it yet.

" _Genjutsu_?" She thought while concentrating in her own chakra. It was abnormal. "Kai!" The image dispersed and she clicked her thong. She ran and then saw Naruto trapped in a tree. _"Should I help him?"_ She shrugged and climbed the tree. " _He's supposed to be my teammate after all…"_

"Sakura-chan? What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She asked rhetorically. "Be careful, there's another trap there." She cut the rope.

"No, I mean, why are you helping me?" He asked now standing before her. She shrugged and smiled half-hearted.

"Is what teammates do." The silence become uncomfortable and she shook her head. "Anyway I think is better if we find Sasuke. It would be better if we could fight with him."

"But Sakura-chan there are just two bells."

"We can see about it later." Sakura answered and the boy shook his head.

"No way Sakura-chan! I will do it alone. If I pick the bells I give you one, but I will be damned if Sasuke-teme become a ninja before me." He said and then ran in another direction and Sakura frowned.

 _"_ _He is more focused on getting the bells before Sasuke that he didn't stopped to reflect."_ She thought. Teammates. What are they for if not to have your back? _"That's it. Stupid! How could I be so stupid? They always passed in teams. Never one. Never two. Always three."_ She thought. _"This test is to show if we can work in a cell. The bells don't matter at all."_

She sighed. "It means that I still have to look for both of them." She murmured.

And she did it. However she found Sasuke buried till his neck.

 _"_ _Fan-fucking-tastic!"_ She thought.

She kneeled besides him.

"You got out of the genjutsu." He said looking straight at her.

"Yes. And you got buried alive, if we're stating facts." She said sarcastically. She could feel his annoyance, but just smirked. "It will hurt a little." She then executed the body replacement jutsu, substituting Sasuke for a trunk. The technique was already uncomfortable when it was made by the subject, but have it done by a third part was even worst she read.

"That was… A handy trick." He said behind her.

"I had let some trunks around the way when I was looking for hideout. I had already passed by here." She explained with a smile. "Anyway we should find Naruto."

"I don't need help, Sakura."

"Your state forty five seconds before tells me otherwise." Sakura stated with a smug look.

"I could get out without your help." Sasuke said arrogantly and her eyebrow arched. "And I have to pick those bells before lunch. I don't have time to look for Naruto."

"Alone and in five minutes?" She questioned him.

"I had already touched one. Next time I will pick it." The girl rolled her eyes.

 _"_ _Weren't Alphas supposed to be group leaders?"_ The thought hit her. "You know that this test is designed for us all to fail right?" She asked and he snorted. "Maybe we should all just give up." She murmured.

His eyes encountered hers. Cold. Angry. And then they found a way to the forest before him. But something told her that he wasn't paying attention to it too. She stood in silence, observing the crest in his back. For a minute her Omega wanted to hug him tightly. He looked so sad and lonely.

"I'm the one that will destroy that person." His voice was icy cold, and yet melancholic. She stood there, silent. She was curious, but it wasn't her place to ask. "That day I was crying. Because of him…" He stopped and then turned to her again. "I'm an avenger. So I need to grow stronger than my prey. I need this training. I have no time to lose!"

The silence after those words was eating her. She let it all sink, maybe it would help her understand him, or not. The ring of the clock reached them and Sakura sighed heavily.

"Damn I lost too much time with you."

 _"_ _He gave me a monologue and yet has the guts to blame me… Teme!"_ Her fists were closed so tightly that she could almost draw blood. " _Now I'm talking like Naruto! Shanaro!"_

* * *

Naruto was tied up in one of the trunks. That had surprised them. Sakura was frustrated. They were so thick and stubborn that neither of them had perceived the trick behind the test. Naruto was embarrassed. He had been caught again and now Sasuke-teme was looking smug at him, with a victorious smirk. Sasuke was irritated. Not only he hadn't picked the bell, but he would also be back to the Academy.

"I have made a decision." Kakashi said calmly before them. "Just Sakura will be sent back to the Academy."

"What?" The girl all but screamed. She felt dread and numb.

"The rest of you are eliminated of the program. Permanently." He said. "Sakura you can relax a little, you'll go back to the Academy, maybe next year you'll have a better team."

Soon she returned to her senses. Naruto and Sasuke now were dread. Of course, Naruto put himself together first so he could yell.

"Eliminate us of the program so we'll never be ninjas? You said that if we couldn't pick the bells we would go back to the Academy! You can't change your mind and eliminate us. Why are you doing it?"

"Because the both of you don't think as ninjas, but as spoiled brats." Kakashi shrugged.

Sasuke didn't like the offense and attacked him. He never let anyone offend him, not without a payback. But Kakashi wasn't an gennin, so it was quite simple for him to throw Sasuke at the ground and immobilize the youngster. It happened fast. And both Sasuke and Naruto were stupefied by it.

"You think everything revolves around you?" Kakashi asked rhetorically. "You don't understand what is the meaning of being a ninja. You think everything is a game, right?" He stayed silent for a little, so his words could sink in their minds. "Why do you think that we put you in teams? Except for Sakura, had any of you thought in it? She was the one that had tried to discover the meaning of the exercise. Because of it she passed. Not you. A three people team. Why do you think we would do it?" A frustrated sound escaped Naruto's lips.

"How can we know why you choose three people? We don't do the rules!"

"It should be obvious." He sighed and then looked at Sakura. "Would you please enlighten them?"

"The exercise was to measure our capacity to work in team." She said and moved uncomfortable under the securitizes eyes of her teammates (?). "The two bells were only a distraction… He wanted us to teamwork over it." She explained.

"Now do you understand? She was the only that tried to make you work together, but none of you listened to her. Maybe if you did it, I would let you pick the bells of me." He said seriously.

"But there were two bells. If we had picked it we would have confronted each other." Sasuke said. "You wanted us to turn against each other."

"I wanted to see if you could put it aside and put your team before everything else. A genin should have the natural instinct to teamwork. But it didn't even pass though your heads. Naruto: you made everything alone. Every little thing! Sasuke: no one is up to you. You're arrogant! And even when Sakura helped, both of you looked down at her." Sakura's eyes downcast as both boys looked at her again. "The missions are done in teams. It's obvious that individual abilities are needed, but the teamwork is essential. Every shinobi knows it. When the individual is above the team the result is failure." Kakashi stated and the boys stood there ignoring those words. He picked a kunai of his pouch and placed it in Sasuke's neck. "As an example: Sakura kill Naruto, or Sasuke die."

The girl froze. Not actually knowing what to do in that situation. And everyone was desperately glancing at her and waiting for her to act. But she didn't. Kakashi nodded at her, then released Sasuke and tuck his kunai away.

"It happens frequently in missions. The enemy picks a hostage, you have to make an impossible choice. And someone will end up dead. In every mission your lives are at stake." He said as he walked till the memorial stone. "Do you see the names graved in this stone? Every one of they are of a ninja that was honored as a hero for our Village." Kakashi said.

"That's it! I know it!" Naruto yelled attracting everyone's attention to him. "I have decided. I will put my name in this stone! I won't live and die for nothing as dog. I will be a hero!"

"I don't think you'll want you name there so soon, Naruto." Kakashi looked at him. "They're all M.I.A."

"It sounds so cool!"

"Missing In Action." Sakura said attracting the boy attention. "The names in these stone are from dead ninjas." The tension raised between them. "That's a memorial."

"You're right. The name of my bests friends are craved here." His eye looked to find three specifics names. "I will give you another chance. But I will go really hard this time. Sakura won't do the test, as she already proved me that she can teamwork. I would pass her alone if I could, but I can't so now it depends on both of you. You two will have three hours. Eat your lunch now, Sasuke. You Naruto won't eat anything. It is your punishment for trying to eat alone. If you try to feed him will be eliminated, alright, Sasuke? I do the rules, you follow. Sakura, pick a bento and come with me! We have to talk."

The girl did as he told and followed him. He put a hand on her shoulder and they appeared behind the trees, where he could have the clear view of the boys, before she could ask him anything he pressed two fingers in her lips.

"Eat quietly. We are just going to see what they do from now on." Sakura nodded and started to eat, she was famished after all. Sasuke was doing the same, and Naruto were pitiful.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to let Naruto without lunch?" Sakura asked quietly. "He's going to pass out at first sight."

"Huh? They won't have to fight, if Sasuke make the right decision." He said and the jade eyes widened.

"You want him to break your rule."

"You're smart child. But, yes. Is what I want." Kakashi winked at her. "Now just relax, if anything you'll receive another team by the morrow."

"THERE IS NO PROBLEM! I CAN PASS DAYS WITHOUT FOOD, WEEKS, EVEN YEARS! THAT'S NO PROBLEM AT ALL." The blond screamed and Sakura held her laugh.

* * *

"Naruto, eat!" Sasuke ordered while still sat in his knees.

"Sasuke…"

"Is not time to be prideful. Kakashi is not here, and if we're going to do it as a team, then you better be up in your feet." The raven haired boy said.

"Is not pride, teme!" The blonde said and blushed. "I can't eat tied up here!" The Uchiha rolled his eyes and got up, them he feed the blonde.

* * *

"That's our leave, Sakura-chan!" Kakashi told her before making them reaper before the boys. "You broke my rules!" The man said sounding annoyed, but Sakura perceived it was just for show. "You passed!"

"Congratulations, guys!" Sakura said behind him.

"What?" Naruto asked bewilder.

"You passed!" The oldest repeated. "This is the first team in the history that I passed! Everyone else did exactly what I told them, so they fall in all my traps. They didn't think alone. A ninja have to be able to see underneath the underneath." He explained simply. "In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash. It is true,… but those who abandon their friends are worst than trash." The sense of relief flooded all of them. "Any way, the three of you passed! Team seven will have the first mission tomorrow!"

* * *

Sakura walked home alone when found someone near the temple. It wasn't uncommon, the temple was visited frequently by the Village people, but the person she saw that caught her attention. Hyuuga Hinata. She was crying before the altar of Oinari. She looked both, sad and angry. Sakura turned her back to her, not letting her curiosity win. The shrine was a place to people seek peace, and whatever bothered Hinata, it wasn't her business, unless the girl decided to inform her.

As she was walking away she heard Hinata calling for her.

"I didn't want to intrude." Sakura said quietly.

"You didn't." Hinata replied. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here!" Sakura smiled dully. "Well, in the house behind the temple, actually. My father is one of the monks of this shrine." She explained and saw the other girl nod, absently. "I think he and the others are having the closed prays, now, and I'm sure I'm not as good in giving advices as them, but I can hear if you want to talk."

Internally she scolded herself. She was supposed to train now, and she wasn't a miko. Damn! The only one in her family that actually was good in things like this was her father. However when her classmate nodded she sighed.

"Come!" She said calmly. "I'll make us a tea."

* * *

The first thing Hinata observed in Sakura's house was that it was traditional, built in wood and with a large veranda. Not the modern like. The second was that Sakura looked sweaty and a little tired, and felt guilty. She shouldn't be imposing in someone that looked so tired. The pinkette finished pouring tea for them.

"Since the Kyuubi attack, father said that people stopped go to the Oinari-sama altar. So see you there really caught my attention."

"Oinari-sama is the god of fertility. Some said that he is the one that decrees if someone is an Alpha, a Beta or an Omega." Hinata said and Sakura nodded, she already knew it. "I'm angry because I'm not what my father wanted me to be."

"An Alpha." Hinata nodded and then continued.

"Because I'm not an Alpha I can't be the heir of the Clan, all my cousins in the principal family are Betas or Omegas, and my sister is the only one whose nature have not been revealed."

"You don't think she's going to be an Alpha, do you?"

"She's already eight and don't have started to produce scent." Hinata explained. "It means that my father will have to choose someone in the branch family to join the principal family. I already know who. Everyone within the clan does."

She felt Sakura's eyes on her. The girl's stare was so deep that she almost believed that the Haruno held the Byakugan.

"Don't you like this cousin of yours?"

"I have nothing against him, actually." She saw a pink eyebrow arch. "Is just that I don't want to be a disappointment for all my clan."

"And why would you be? Because you're not an Alpha, so you can't take the leadership — as the rules of your clan says —, or because you are an Omega?" Surprised took all over Hinata's face. If Sakura wasn't sure before, now she was. Hinata on the other hand had the desire to run. "Don't worry, I'm not telling in you. I wouldn't like for someone to tell on me."

"How did you?"

"I wasn't sure, but you never once referred at yourself as an Beta, just keep saying that you aren't a Alpha, then you point that you don't want to be a disappointment, in ninja clans Omegas are less celebrated — even through still desired." Sakura explained shrugging. "But Hinata-san, being an Omega isn't something within a control. You'll always have the drive to please Alphas, and will always be looked down. You can't control these things, but I will tell you what you can control: your choices. You can choose to sit still and let people tell you that you're weak 'cause you're Omega, or you can choose to fight and ignore them because you know you're strong."

"You're an Omega too." Hinata said with realization.

"I had my first heat Friday."

"Yesterday, at the hospital. I used my right of patient privacy to make the doctor promise me he wouldn't tell anyone. It was after my last test and I didn't had the courage to go back home and face my father."

"You don't have anyone to talk about it?" She shook her head and Sakura smiled dully. "Do you know what you're going to do?"

"I have no idea, my first mission is tomorrow. If I quit what's gonna happen to my team? If I don't how I'm going to make people take me seriously?"

"You don't have to tell them." Sakura said. "You're the first person outside my family that knows that I'm Omega. And I don't plan in let my team know it so early."

"There is no way to hide it forever Sakura-san."

"You're right! But once they perceive I'm Omega they will already be too used to me watching my own back." The pinkette retorted. "And I don't want to just be an Omega shinobi, I want them to see me as strong shinobi that happens to be an Omega."

She went thoughtful. It was the first time she was having an interaction with an Omega outside her family. The Omegas in her family were discouraged to fight, instead they were taught to manage the domestic part of the household. She didn't want to stop being an ninja, she had built her whole life around it.

"How do you hide it?"

"Suppressors pills for heat and hormone." Sakura explained pulling a delicate looking inro. "Mother said that the effects of each pill last for a week or so, this way I will only have to swallow one for week. Although mom also said that if I ever step a foot outside the village for a mission then I should increase to two a week."

"It looks like you're really prepared." She said taking the inro in her hands. The case was black with golden sakura branches decorating it. "But even so, wouldn't your scent grow too chemical?" Sakura nodded at her.

"Shampoos and body lotions do the trick, it cover the chemical."

"If I want to do it, to hide it from every one that I know, including my family, would you help me?" She asked apprehensive. She wanted to do it. But it was risky.

"I will recommend a book for you, but please, think very carefully." Sakura opened the two compartments of the inro and took two pills. "I will give you a week to think it over. If you're certainly about it then we will have a very serious planning to do, if it is your desire to keep it from your family."

Hinata nodded. When she got to the shrine she didn't expected to actually be heard by Oinari. Let alone have her prays answered by a fellow kunoichi. She left the shrine happy. In her way home she passed in a library picking a book Sakura had recommended her to read. It was the first time since she suspected she would be an Omega that she felt so lightly. Talk with an Omega that was so determinate to be a shinobi no matter what her instincts dictated was refreshing, reassuring. For the first time she felt as if a burden had been lifted of her.

* * *

 _Hello guys! How are you?_

 _I hope you're fine and that you liked today's chapter, now with the introduction of Hinata as an Omega._  
 _You may have perceived that I had choose Hinata to be her confident because is impossible to not love Hinata. She is one of my favorite characters and I always thought that, alongside Sakura, she used to be too understimated._

 _Yes, I have a little problem with grammar, I will start looking for a Beta-Reader. Better yet, anyone knows one?_

 _Review me with your opinion!_

 _XOXO_

 _Ana!_


	3. 03 Land of Waves - part 1

**Chapter 3**

 **Land of Waves – part 1**

The week had passed quickly and both girls had planned everything alongside Sayuri, after she had returned from her mission. And then weeks passed, and they saw each other at least three times a week. Now Hinata was her best friend and confident. They shared the same doubts and fears. Sakura could still tell that her father disapproved of her being a ninja. Not only because she was an Omega. He had hated the idea even before it. Ren was a monk, and was peaceful man that hated violence, so he had always hoped that his child would turn into the cleric service as himself. So he was disappointed when she insisted in follow her mother footsteps as a ninja. But now he was less harsh at her.

The other monks and mikos at the shrine also seemed to accept it. Not only accept, but some, like Haninousuka Asuka-sama — that had been a kunoichi till her seventeen — and Tamayomi Kentarou-san — whose family used to be samurai — started to train her. Now she had a very intense routine.

She would wake early, around 5 AM and eat. Then around 5:30, Asuka-sama would make her do laps around the shrine for an hour and then her katas for another hour. Kentarou-san would then teach and weapon train her. Then she would lunch. At 1 PM she would meet her team at their usual train ground. They would be offended with her being late, but she would shrug, sensei was later. They would have a train exercise that was very light if compared with Asuka-sama's train, or a D-rank mission that would last for three hours maximum. Thrice a week, around 5 PM she would go to the park where she and Hinata would hang out. At home, she would meditate for an hour along with her father and then rest.

It was hard, but it paid off. At the mirror she could already see her body gaining more muscular masse and shape, during the trainings she could feel her stamina was higher than before, she was faster and more precise. She soon perceived that her hair wasn't helping her in her trained, but also didn't want to cut it, so instead she braided it in boxer style. This way she didn't have to be worry about it getting in her way.

Sometimes she still felt her heart pounding when Sasuke was near her. She couldn't control her thoughts about him and seriously it was annoying how sometimes she would blush when he looked at her. However, know that she was forcing herself to look at him with more analytical eyes, she could see his ill manners and boring personality. How she could like someone that brood all the times, she would never know. Naruto in the other hand had become a friend to her. They would walk together and talk. And his shiny personality was really getting into her. She could tell him anything, it was easy. She came to understand how Hinata had coming to fall for him.

Kakashi was slowly getting in her nerves. He was always late. He disappeared all the time. And was always reading porn. It was like he didn't wanted to be a teacher. At least, not her teacher. His train was too light and he was focused on Sasuke and Naruto. Sakura did understand that both were stronger than her, they were Alphas, but she was being deliberated ignored by him during training. She needed someone that was willing to train her, not only supervise her gardening or fencing painting.

The D-Rank missions were ridiculous. It was surprising that it took two months for Naruto complain at the Hokage. Naruto antics were a torn between amusing and embarrassing. Scratching the corner of her eyebrow, she pretended that she wasn't in the Hokage's office and observed the people around her. Kakashi was amused, Sasuke had a smug look in his face — she could tell that he agreed with Naruto, but was letting the boy do all the work —, Iruka-san was pissed at Naruto and two chunnin guards were doing a poor job to contain the laugh.

"Whatever!" The Hokage sighed and getting everyone surprised. "Since you're decided, I will give you a C-rank mission. You'll be bodyguards in a journey."

"Really? Cool!" Naruto stated before proceed in harassing the Kage for more information. "Who? We're going to protect a princess or an important chancellor?"

 _"_ _I would be surprised if it was a lost kid from another town."_ Sakura thought with a frowned face.

When the Hokage called for the client Sakura sighed. It was an old man with that was clearly drunk and with a sake bottle in his hand. Again she frowned. His posture was careless, his eyes scanned them and a snobbish grim was shout at them.

"What? Just some spoiled brats?" Sakura clenched her jaw, holding back a remark. "And you, the idiotic midget, do you really think I'm going to believe you're a ninja?"

"Hahaha! Who is the idiotic midget?" Naruto laughed and she and Sasuke approached him so he could compare the heights. "I'll demolish you!" He cried, but was held back by Kakashi.

"You can't demolish the client, Naruto." He commented as if he was talking about the time. "That's not how things work."

"I'm Tazuna, a great bridge builder and I need to go back to my country." The man introduced himself. "I'm building a bridge that will change my country's life and I intent to get there safe and sound. Even if you have to give your own lives for it."

"Okay. We'll meet tomorrow at the north gate at eight in the morning." Kakashi said. "Remember that we will walk a lot and will need to camp, so I suggest to be careful with your pack. Don't be late. It is a long term mission after all."

Sakura rolled her eyes. As if it would be needed in a C-Rank.

 **(LINE BREAK)**

Sakura was packing while a fox entered her room through her veranda. One of the pecks to live in the shrine was that there foxes were considerate sacred, so it was common to see a lot of them around the shrine. Along with the foxes, there were crows, dogs, cats, weasels and other animals that almost lived in the shrine lands. She liked them. It didn't matter if the villagers didn't like the foxes, there they were protected.

"That's a fox in your futon?" Hinata asked with small smile.

Around her Hinata was more confident in herself than the normal. And around Hinata, she felt that she could be vulnerable if the needed. Sakura smiled at the young white fox that was watching Hinata.

"Hinata, that's my friend, Shuhei. My father helped in his birth last year, and I helped feed him." Sakura said picking him in her arms.

"When you told me that the shrine took care of wild animals, I didn't believe." She sounded amazed, and she was at seeing a fox so docile in Sakura's arms.

"Do you want to carry him?" Hinata accepted and again was amazed at how docile the fox was. She sat at Sakura's futon setting the fox in her lap.

"So… Packing?"

"Tomorrow I'm going to a long term mission in the Waves."

"Economic instable, geographic isolated, politically weak." Hinata recited what she had heard of the country by her father. "They don't have ninjas there, do they?"

"Not that I know." Sakura shrugged. "We have to bodyguard a bridge builder while he builds his master piece or whatever."

"It can take months."

"About two, yes." Sakura said and Hinata looked displeased. "Don't worry, I will bring your _Naruto_ - _kun_ back to you." She joked and the pearled eyes girl threw a cushion at her and she laughed. "Are you going to be okay?"

"My best friend is going away for months. I hope you'll come back safely." Hinata said truly. "You should take that." She said pointing to a katana. "You use it beautifully."

"Kentarou-san made me promise that I wouldn't use it till he deemed me ready." Sakura said but shrugged. "It's only a C-Rank mission. Oh!" Sakura started moving some things in her shelf. "Here's the promised katas." She handed the scroll to Hinata. "I think it will adjust quite well with the Gentle Fist Style of your clan."

"Is it okay for you to pass me this?"

"Asuka-sama let me pass it to you, she just asks for you to not pass it to anyone else." Hinata nodded in agreement. "And she asked if you want to train with us once I get back."

"It will be lovely." Hinata take something of her pouch. "Anyway I bought it other day, it just remember me of you." It was a leather cord necklace with a wood pendent that have a kanji 'strength' painted in black. "You always say that we need to be strong." She then put a similar out of her clothes, after handed the first to Sakura.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan."

"No. Thank _you_ , Sakura." The ravenette said. "You're the first person that believed in me. My own father thinks I'm just a weakling and fragile thing, and he thinks I'm a beta. All my clan looks at me with disappointment because I'm not an Alpha. And ever since I thought of the possibility that I would be an Omega, I started to believe in my father. But you made me see things in other light. You made want to be stronger so I can shut him up." She smiled dryly. "You are strong, Sakura. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Immediately she was hugged by the pinkette.

"I can only say the same about you, Hinata." She whispered at her. "Now changing to a topic less emotional… How are going things at your team?"

* * *

He blinked. The door of his house was open. But he had put a seal on it. He picked an kunai of his pouch before entered, he couldn't feel anyone inside, but some ninja were formidable in the art of chakra counseling. The first thing he noticed was that his ninken were playing with someone with pink hair. Like his student. And like his student's mother.

"Oh, please. Could you put this kunai away already? You know I don't represent any dangerous to you, Hatake." Said a hard, stone cold female voice.

"Sayuri-san?" He asked making the impossible to keep an indifferent tone. "What are you doing here?"

"What? You teach my daughter. Also I have to see with my own eyes how you are."

"You're here because of Sakura-chan?" He saw her eyes soften after hear her daughter's name. "There is something wrong?"

"Actually? No. There isn't." She smiled at him, still looking at him.

Kakashi couldn't help but compare the both Haruno. Sakura had pastel pink hair that was long enough to reach her waist line, her eyes were jade green and soft and gleamed with determination, her skin was milky white and unscarred. Sayuri's hair was bright scandalous pink that she let in loose ponytail to rest upon her left shoulder, her eyes remembered pink sapphires and burned with sassiness, the tan skin had scars placed all around the body, and one of the most visible was in the collarbone that she had gained just a little before getting married. But the face features, some of the mannerisms were the same. He could only stop to think in what more Sakura would grow like her mother.

"You are a busy woman, you wouldn't lose your time if you didn't want something." He stated after a minute. The pink eyes rolled.

"I know that Sakura isn't a powerhouse like the Uchiha brat or the Namikaze brat, but don't shield her too much. You'll end up screwing her hard work."

"What?"

"Sakura is working her ass day and night to be stronger enough to stand at her own feet. I know your background Kakashi, probably better than any living soul. I think that if you overprotect Sakura you'll hurt her in the end, because you're not only preventing her growing process as a ninja. But also will let her unprepared if it ever came for her to be separated from her team."

"You think that I'm unsuitable as a teacher?"

"No, this I'm sure." Sayuri said nonchalantly. "You read porn in public, what kind of teacher would do this in front of his students? Anyway I just think you have an overprotective streak." She shrugged. "Be protective is not a bad trait, but be _over_ protective is counterproductive in a squad."

"You want me to let her fight if the need ever rise." Sayuri nodded. "Most moms would come here asking me to protect their daughter…"

"Most moms are not as confident in their daughters as I am in mine." Sayuri flicked her hair and passed through him. And then he saw her posture change, from the serious woman that he was used to work to a playful smiling persona. "Well I'm going, my Sakura-chan need help to pack before her first mission and Ren-chan will be finishing his monk duties anytime." She then stopped at his door. "Oh, Kakashi-chan, you should change your seal, it took me less than two minutes to break it."

Sayuri's split personality was really scary.

* * *

Sakura was excited. After eating breakfast with her mother and father she bid them goodbye and found her team in the North Gate at eight o'clock. Kakashi wasn't there, as she had already predicted. The client and her teammates were already there, as well. Naruto was even more agitated that she and Sasuke was the façade of indifference. The journey would take three days at the pace they had to keep. Whatever the first two hours had been enough to make her crazy. Tazuna was deliberately rude with Naruto, making rude remarks and looking down at him. And Naruto was picking his bait and then they would discuss. Kakashi would generally interrupt them, Sasuke would remain silent and she bored.

It was when she noticed a puddle in the middle of the road.

 _"_ _It hasn't rained about two weeks."_ She thought looking at the puddle quizzically. Her instincts screamed for her to run, but she took a long breath. _"It seems that the story of no battles in C-rank Missions was about to be changed."_ Her hands casually travelled for her pouch and she built her guard up.

 _"_ _So she have perceived too."_ Kakashi thought while perceiving his pink haired student movements.

A chain attack had killed Kakashi, frightening them at the sight of the older shinobi being shredded by the enemy. Then two ninjas using the headband of the Hidden Mist appeared and attacked them. Sakura picked the two kunai and stood before the bridge builder, waiting for the right moment. First, they attacked Naruto, tying the paralyzed blonde with the chains. However Sasuke threw a shuriken in the chain, pinning it into a tree. Before the Mist nin could pull the chains she threw a kunai to strengthening the pin. Sasuke kicked each of them, making the metal gloves dethatch of the chain.

This way each of them ran in opposite directions. One in Tazuna direction and other in Naruto's. Sakura pose herself in front of the bridge builder, and narrowed her eyes.

"Sasuke! Help Naruto. I can pick this up." She ordered and run in the ninja direction.

She threw a kunai in his direction, but it was deflected by the metal gloves. Once she was close enough she made sure to stay out of the glove claws, if her mother was right, the Nin of the Mist were almost as proficient in poisons as the Sand nin. She landed a punch in the nin face, but received a sweep kick that took her down. He ran then in Tazuna's direction, but again she put herself before him.

"Why don't you give up, hime-chan?"

"Go to hell!" She yelled and kicked his left side. With the corner of her eyes she saw Sasuke fighting the other nin while Naruto was still paralyzed. "Naruto, we need your help! Wake up."

She screamed. Taking vantage of her distraction the Mist nin attacked her once more. _"Damn it!"_ She thought pulling another kunai of her pouch she was about to be beaten when someone appeared between her and the enemy _. "Sasuke-kun?"_ She felt her Omega react instantly to him, almost melting her legs. But before the nin could actually attack any of them, someone grabbed the collar of his shirt. The other nin that Sasuke had abandon to protect her was resting unconscious in his shoulder.

"Kakashi-sensei?" She mused looking at the older ninja. Her brows furred and a mix of anger and relief burning in her chest.

 _"_ _Exhibitionist."_ Thought the Uchiha with an unexpectedly jealousy of the jounin's ability.

 _"_ _Kakashi-sensei used a substituition jutsu. So cool!"_ Thought Naruto perceiving the shredded woods were should be laying the rests of the Hatake.

"Sorry for not having act right away, Naruto. I didn't want them to hurt you, but also I didn't thought you would chicken out like that, hun?" He jerked and then looked at his other students, focusing in Sakura that stood still and then arched a brow. "Good work, Sasuke, Sakura. You did great!"

Rage and frustration boiled in Naruto's blood. _"I was useless! And Sasuke was so calm as if he had already done it a million times. He wasn't even a little scared. He looked so calm and got out without a scratch. And I was so coward that he had to save me. Why I'm not like him too?"_

"Hey!" Sasuke said calling Naruto's attention out of his thoughts. "You didn't got hurt, did you? Scared cat!" The provocative smirk made Sakura roll her eyes. He was being deliberating cruel with his fellow teammate.

"Sasuke!"

"Naruto!" Kakashi called him, making the blonde turn to him. "Don't move. These types of ninjas use poison in their craws. We need to take it off of you as soon as possible. You need to open the wound and take it off. Is in your blood, so don't more, it would spread the poison." The man said looking at the blond and Sakura closed her eyes.

She had been fighting one of them, she then perceived that Kakashi was scanned hers and Sasuke's bodies, looking for open wounds. She didn't have one, but the fall on her back would leave a bruise in her left scalp. She moved uncomfortably, but nodded at him. She could walk just fine.

"By the way, Tazuna-san..."

"Yes! What it is?" The man asked alarmed.

"We need to talk." Sensei said.

Sasuke and Kakashi tied the foreign ninjas in a tree and Sakura relaxed. She was curious about the Mist Nin. She read a little about the Hidden Mist, to occupy her time — her father was a follower of the _"a sharp mind precedes a strong body"_ philosophy. —, they had a civil war not long ago, that ended with lots of bloodlines being wiped out of the village. Mist ninjas ran of the village in masse, turning on Missing Nin. But that was the little information her father had come across in his yearly pilgrimage to the Fushimi Shrine in other city. Monks around the continent were always there during that time of the year.

"They're chunnin of the Village of Mist. Their specialty is the coordinating attack. They continue fighting, it doesn't matter the sacrifice."

"How did you knew about our ambush?" One of the Missing nin asked without fear.

"A puddle in the sunny day, when it haven't rained in weeks?" Kakashi explained in an exasperated tone.

"So why did you let your genin fight on their own?" Tazuna asked with a frowned face.

"It's kind of obvious no?" Sakura said attracting their attention to her. "If he had fight first, it would end up fast… Too fast. But we wouldn't know anything would we?"

"Sakura is right. I want to know their goal, the reason behind the attack." Kakashi's eyes shoot Tazuna a sharp glare. "I needed to know their target."

"W-what did you said?" Tazuna's voice squealed nervously.

"See…" The serious tone in his voice made Sakura shrived. "They could have been after us: ninjas attacking ninjas. Or they could be after you: a great bridge builder. The client. When you made the protection request you asked for standard protection against robbers and thieves. You hadn't mentioned that you were being wanted or persecuted by a ninja. If we did know this, then the mission would probably be classified as B-rank or higher. Our task was simply take you to your destination and protect you while you built the bridge against common criminals. If we knew that we would have to fight other ninja, other team would have been escalated to this mission and, of course, it would been charged a B-rank price. You may have had your reasons, but lying isn't acceptable. My team doesn't have the necessary skill to do this mission." Kakashi looking straight at his eyes.

"We're genin. This is far too advanced for our training level. It could have injuried us, or worst: killed us. Including you." Sakura said and saw Tazuna's eyes.

"Sakura is right." Kakashi said and then looked at Naruto. "Anyway… We better get back at the village, Naruto's hand may become a problem."

The more he was treated like a child, more frustrated and irritated the blonde became. And responding Kakashi's last statement he used a kunai to open his wound let his blood run stale. He staggered and then started to say in a quiet and solemn voice.

"Why I'm so different? Why do this happen to me?"

"Naruto, let me take a look at your wound, seriously." Sakura said, but her plea fell on deaf ears as Naruto continued his monologue.

"I worked so hard to be here. I tried till the limit, trained alone for hours. Everything too become stronger, to realize my dream." Sakura looked worried at the lots of blood running out of the blonde's hand. "I will never weaken again, neither will let anyone rescue me. I will never run again or will lose to Sasuke. Upon this wound I make this oath: Bridge Builder I will complete this mission and protect you with this kunai. A real ninja will never give up, and never will. Don't worry about me, I will be fine. Now let's go!" The blonde shouted.

"Naruto, it was cool the way you cut the poison irrigation, but if you lose a little more of blood, you will die." Kakashi said indifferent. And Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Ahh! What do I do?" He started in despair. "I can't die now! I have to become Hokage." He cried.

"No one is dying now, Naruto. For you to die of blood lose at the hand you would have to bleed a lot more. And even so, before you would lose consciousness, then your hand would turn purple because of the oxygen deprivation – that would mean we would have to amputate your hand – and if you still bleed you die." Sakura said everything too calm and with a smile in her lips.

"Did your mother teach you that?" Kakashi asked with narrowed eyes as Sakura was picking a first aid kit in her backpack. "For all I know Sayuri-sama have zero experience with dealing with this level of wounds."

"Actually there's a monk in the shrine that used to be a doctor before offer himself as a Kami's servant." Sakura said casually. "Setsuya-sensei even showed me how to perform emergency care of amputated limbs." She sat and petted to Naruto to sit before her, so she could look at his injury.

"And how exactly did he show it to you?"

"A puppy had to amputee his tail because it had an infection that would kill him if reached the rest of the body." Sakura shrugged and Kakashi and the rest sweatdroped. "He said that the human care isn't so different."

"A doctor in the shrine, hn…" Kakashi thought while looking at Sakura's hand working efficiently at Naruto's injury.

 _"_ _It's already healing? Why?"_ She thought looking at the wound. "You're going to be fine, Naruto." She declared after pushing the questions out of her mind.

* * *

Two days later. Tazuna had just explained his history. A shipping tycoon that was using the main island of his land was playground. Imposing laws, enforcing terror, intimidating, murdering, prostitution… Sakura made her best to hold the shrive that wanted to go down her spine when Tazuna explained that Gatō, the tycoon, had killed all Alphas that had mated with Omegas and then the Omegas had disappeared. She knew what he mean.

It was in the third day of the journey that they had been attacked a second time.

Naruto was too agitated, wanting to prove that he wasn't a scared cat. What lead in he throwing kunai at every brush movement. Sakura's scalp was still hurting, in one of their stops she observed at the mirror a large purple bruise in her back, it was probably there. When Naruto threw another kunai one of her brows twitched. She was become irritated.

"Naruto put these kunai away. We'll need it later! When we face a real enemy." Sakura said irritated.

"But there is someone following us." He argued and she sighed. He was right, since they had landed she had started to feel observed. They were being followed, and it was frustrating and frightening.

" _I know, right?_ I can feel someone observing us. I know someone is watching. But I also know that we are not going to get him throwing kunai at every anything in the forest." She said still irritated. Kakashi was in the brushes seeing what happened to be the victim of Naruto's kunai, to find a scared white rabbit. "And congratulations! You can frighten a rabbit."

"Oh! Little bunny! I'm so sorry!" Naruto cried trying to hug the scared rabbit and Sakura rolled her eyes. Sasuke was still acting as if he wasn't there and that scene wasn't happening, the client thought of Naruto as an idiot.

 _"_ _A snowshoe hare, but with this color? Its fur is just white during the winter, when the days are short and have little light. This hare had been raised inside of a house and away of the light and is here for a reason: Kawarimi no Jutsu. He is already here."_ Were the thoughts of the jounin.

"Kakashi-sensei…"

"Everyone down!" Kakashi shouted, interrupting Sakura.

Immediately all of them tracked to the ground. Tazuna being tracked by Sasuke. A giant sword boomeranged above their heads and craved itself at the old tree. A man appeared in the handle. Sakura looked at him, measured him. Unlike Konoha nin who used scent suppressors at missions outside the village, the man scent was strong and remembered her of the sea, she didn't knew why though. The man was strange and everything in him screamed danger. For his headband she knew he was of the Mist. He was the companion of the Demon Brothers.

 _"_ _Who is he?"_ She though while looking at him.

"Maa… If it isn't the nuke nin of the Village of the Hidden Mist: Momochi Zabuza." Kakashi said and Sakura eyes got wide.

* * *

 _Hi, guys!_

 _I would like to say I'm sorry, I made a mistake in the last chapter._  
 _The memorial stone isn't for MIA (missing in action) but for KIA (killed in action). I'm sorry about it. And I would like to thanks the reader that brought it to my attention._

 _Now, I hope you had liked this chapter._

 _Review me, pretty please._

 _And see you in the next chapter._

 _xoxo_

 _Ana_


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